Minutes after the jury hopelessly deadlocked in the week-long trial of Quinton Verdell Tellis in the 2014 burning death of Jessica Chambers, DA John Champion said he will be retried.
Therese Apel/ The Clarion-Ledger

Panola County District Attorney John Champion presents his closing arguments to the jury, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Batesville, Miss., in the capital murder case against Quinton Tellis. Tellis is charged with burning Jessica Chambers to death almost three years earlier. Tellis pleaded not guilty and did not testify during the trial.(Photo: Rogelio V. Solis, AP)

The defense attorney in the Jessica Chambers murder trial is accusing the district attorney prosecuting the case of misconduct related to witness tampering.

Darla Palmer, the attorney for Quinton Tellis, claims District Attorney John Champion attempted to sway a witness to testify that Chambers would often refer to Tellis as "Eric," according to a motion and affidavit filed Monday.

Tellis was charged with capital murder in the 2014 burning death of 19-year-old Chambers, who was found engulfed in flames on a road in Courtland on Dec. 4, 2016. When asked who had set her on fire, Chambers appeared to say "Eric," according to testimony from multiple first responders at Tellis' October trial.

In the motion, Palmer alleges that Champion tried to pressure Jalen Asir Matthews Caudle to testify that Chambers used to refer to Tellis as "Eric," the Oxygen network first reported.

Palmer also represents Caudle, who is charged with capital murder in an unrelated case.

The October trial ended with a hung jury. Because of worries that Tellis — a black man eight years older than the white, teenaged Chambers — would not receive a fair trial amid all the publicity surrounding the case, the jury was selected more than 200 miles south in Pike County.